Done Deal: Holliday To Cards

ESPN reports that Matt Holliday has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Oakland A's acquire the Cardinals top prospect Brett Wallace (3B), in addition to Shane Peterson (OF) and Clayton Mortensen (P).

Additionally, the A's wil pay $1.5 million of Holliday's remaining salary, leaving $4.5 million for the Cardinals to pay. Holliday becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

Holliday batted .287 with 11 HR, 54 RBI and a .837 OPS. He finished second in the 2007 MVP voting behind Jimmy Rollins (but Holliday deserved it more).

Holliday spent most of his career with the Colorado Rockies, before being traded in the offseason. He is a career .315 hitter with a .926 OPS. The Cardinals had interest in Holliday before he was traded to Oakland.

The Cardinals are in town this weekend to face the Phillies.

Mets Sign Perez; Other Updates

The New York Mets have agreed to a deal with Oliver Perez, pending a physical. The deal is 3 years, worth $36 million.

Perez was 10-7 with a 4.22 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, and 180 SO, in 2008. Ollie's stats are like a roller coaster, up and down. Perez had an unbelievable year in 2004 with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he posted a 2.98 ERA. Since, he has had seasons where his ERA was above 5. In between, he has had a respectable ERA.

The problem for Perez is the walks. He has a career 1.42 WHIP and 4.76 BB/9. When Perez is able to limit the walks, he is usually effective and will strike batters out. However, when Perez is off, he's way off and very wild. Perez can be very inconsistent. You never know if you'll get the good Ollie, or bad Ollie.

It is also being reported that the Mets are not interested in Manny Ramirez, but the Los Angeles Dodgers have made an offer.

The Baltimore Orioles acquired Rich Hill from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later.

In 2007, Hill had a break out season going 11-8 with a 3.92 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 183 SO. However, in 2008, he pitched just 19.2 innings with an ERA of 4.12. He was troubled with back spasms and sent down to AAA where he sported an ERA over 5.

The Oakland A's acquired Michael Weurtz from the Cubs in exchange for Minor Leaguers Richie Robnett and Justin Sellers. Weurtz was 1-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 45 games last season, also spending time in AAA.

Caribbean Series: Brad Knox pitched 6+ innings of no hit ball to lead Venezuela over the Dominican Republic, 3-2.

Ronnie Paulino (Dominican Republic) was 1-3 with a walk.

Red Sox Signings; Other Updates

The Boston Red Sox signed outfielder Rocco Baldelli to a one year deal. The deal has a base off $500K and could go up to as much as $5.25 million depending on roster and performance bonuses.

Baldelli, who was misdiagnosed with mitochondrial disorder, grew up a Red Sox fan. Baldelli has suffered through fatigue, was underwent further test which showed he had a treatable channelopathy condition rather than the fatal disorder.

Badelli played just 80 games in 2008 and batted .263 with 4 HR. He is a career .281 hitter with a .769 OPS.

The Red Sox are also close to signing 41 year old, John Smoltz. Smoltz stuck out his 3,000th batter early in the season, but ended up making just 6 starts, missing the rest of the season due to injury.

The deal could start at $5 million, going up to as much as $10 million.

The future Hall of Famer spent his entire career with the Atlanta Braves. He is 210-147 in his career with a 3.26 ERA and 154 saves. Smoltz is an 8 time All Star, and 1996 Cy Young Winner.

The Milwaukee Brewers signed the all time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman. The deal has a base of $6 million, with $1.5 in incentives.

Hoffman has a 2.78 career ERA, 554 saves, 1,055 strikeouts in 998 IP, spending almost his whole career with the San Diego Padres.

The Oakland Athletics signed Jason Giambi to a one year deal worth $4 million. Giambi is 4 HR shy of 500 for his career.

A's Acquire Holliday

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Oakland Athletics acquired Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies.

The A's came out of nowhere for the trade. The Phillies and Cardinals were rumored as trade possibilities for Holliday. Ryan Ludwick was the Cardinals main trade bait. Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, and J.A. Happ were among possibilities of a trade for Holliday for the Phillies.

The package for Holliday includes Carlos Gonzalez, Huston Street, and Greg Smith.

Billy Beane, the A's GM has had a reputation of trading away players at the deadline for prospects. Perhaps this year is not the case as he may feel the A's have a chance to contend in 2009. If that isn't the case, then we could see an old stunt by the A's as they could trade Holliday to a contending team for prospects.

Holliday has one year on his contract left, so he will likely become a free agent after the 2009 season unless he is re-signed. With Scott Boras as his agent, it is likely the 2007 MVP runner up will test the free agent market.

Phillies Note: Phillies resign relief pitcher Scott Eyre. Eyre signed a 1 year, $2 million contract. Also, Jimy Williams will not return as bench coach in 2009.